Grand Shinto Symbols

There are thousands of Shinto shrines all over Japan from very small to grand ones. Shinto shrines can be recognized by the same symbols, but some of them can be quite outstanding.

Torii are the gates to the sacred places of the Shinto gods ‘kami’. Torii tend to be rather large in comparison with humans and their number varies. The famous torii standing in water belongs to Itsukushima Shrine of Miyajima Island. The size of the torii is particularly evident in comparison with people during low tide. It’s really grand! Another place with impressive torii is Fushimi Inari Taisha with about 5000 torii on the way to the top of Inari Mountain.

Shinto objects of worship include sacred trees some of which are older than 1000 years. The famous Jakushin-san no Kyushu sacred tree is about 800 years old and measures 17 metres around! Sacred trees are marked with a straw braid called a 'shimenawa’. One of the grandest shimenawa belongs to Suwa Taisha, but the biggest one belongs to Izumo Taisha. Shimenawa is also placed on ancient sacred stones of the shrines.

Some shrines such as Meiji Jingu of Tokyo excel through their space, and some feature special places such as the sumo ring of Suwa Taisha. And, of course, the most grand of symbols is Mt. Fuji, serviced by Fuji-san Hongu Sengen Taisha!